Chapter Text
The kingdom was celebrating.
Music echoed through the streets.
Fireworks lit up the night sky.
Laughter filled the capital.
People talked about the future.
About the new ruler.
About the new era.
About how things would be different from now on.
Nobody talked about the king who had disappeared.
Nobody noticed the lone figure standing on a distant hill overlooking the kingdom.
Parrot stood there silently.
The wind tugged at his cape.
Below him was everything he had spent years protecting.
The farms.
The villages.
The roads.
The castle.
The people.
The kingdom.
His kingdom.
Or at least...
It used to be.
His eyes wandered across the city.
Every corner held a memory.
A village he helped rebuild.
A farmer he helped during a famine.
A settlement he protected from raids.
A dispute he settled before it became a war.
Years of work.
Years of sacrifices.
Years of putting everyone else before himself.
And now?
The kingdom celebrated without him.
As if he had never been there.
As if everything he had done meant nothing.
The fireworks exploded again.
Cheers followed.
Parrot watched in silence.
This should have made him happy.
The people were smiling.
The kingdom was peaceful.
Wasn't that what he always wanted?
Then why did it feel like someone was tearing his heart apart?
His gaze searched the crowd.
Theo.
Nothing.
Reina.
Nothing.
No familiar faces.
No one looking for him.
No one wondering where he was.
No one stopping him.
The realization hurt more than losing the throne.
Because he never cared about the throne.
He cared about them.
And they had already moved on.
A memory surfaced.
Wifies sitting beside him years ago.
Laughing.
"You know they're taking advantage of you, right?"
Parrot rolled his eyes.
"No they aren't."
"They are."
"No."
"They absolutely are."
Back then he ignored it.
Back then he believed helping people was enough.
Back then he believed kindness would eventually be returned.
Now?
Standing alone while the kingdom celebrated?
Maybe Wifies had been right.
Maybe he had spent so much time helping others that nobody noticed when he started breaking.
Maybe people got so used to him carrying everything that they forgot he was human.
Maybe they only noticed what he gave.
Never what it cost him.
Parrot closed his eyes.
He felt tired.
Not physically.
Not mentally.
Something deeper.
The kind of exhaustion that settles into a person's soul.
Years of responsibility.
Years of pressure.
Years of carrying burdens that should never have belonged to one person.
For what?
To be forgotten?
To be replaced?
To be abandoned?
A small laugh escaped him.
Then he looked toward the horizon.
Toward the unknown.
Toward freedom.
For the first time in years...
He thought about what he wanted.
Not the kingdom.
Not the players.
Not anyone else.
Just himself.
The answer came immediately.
Freedom.
Peace.
A life where nobody depended on him.
A life where nobody expected anything from him.
A life that belonged to him.
The smile that appeared on his face was small.
But genuine.
"That's enough."
He turned around.
And walked away.
Without a speech.
Without a goodbye.
Without looking back.
The kingdom never noticed.
Years passed.
At first everything seemed normal.
Then the cracks began to appear.
Food shortages.
Trade issues.
Arguments.
Unresolved disputes.
Missing supplies.
Villages struggling.
Problems piling on top of problems.
The kingdom was no longer thriving.
It was surviving.
Barely.
Inside the castle...
Saparata stared at the mountain of paperwork covering his desk.
His eye twitched.
There was paperwork on the desk.
Paperwork on the floor.
Paperwork on nearby shelves.
Paperwork everywhere.
Another report landed on top of the pile.
Saparata wanted to scream.
Instead he opened it.
Another village.
Another complaint.
Another problem.
Another responsibility.
His forehead slammed into the desk.
"...How?"
The question escaped him.
How did Parrot do this?
How did he handle all of it?
How did he solve problems while helping players at the same time?
How did he make it look easy?
Because it wasn't easy.
Not even close.
The more Saparata ruled...
The more he understood something terrifying.
Parrot hadn't been carrying the kingdom.
He was the thing holding it together.
The players slowly realized it too.
The farmers remembered the king who visited their villages.
The miners remembered the king who personally helped after cave-ins.
The villagers remembered supplies arriving when times became difficult.
The struggling settlements remembered how problems somehow disappeared before becoming disasters.
The kingdom remembered.
Too late.
Far too late.
Because now he was gone.
And nobody knew where.
Deep in the Nether...
ClownPierce sat atop his fortress.
Everything was running perfectly.
The kingdom was rich.
Resources were overflowing.
Trade was stable.
Nothing was wrong.
And somehow...
That was the problem.
"Boring."
The word escaped immediately.
Nobody challenged him anymore.
Nobody caused chaos anymore.
Nobody annoyed him anymore.
The server felt empty.
Quiet.
Lifeless.
His gaze drifted toward the Overworld.
Toward the kingdom.
Toward the place where one irritating king used to constantly cause problems.
A smirk appeared.
"...You're really making this boring."
Silence answered him.
For once...
Clown genuinely wanted someone back.
Elsewhere...
Theo and Reina continued searching.
Years had passed.
Every clue led nowhere.
Every rumor proved false.
Every trail vanished.
Still they refused to stop.
One evening they sat beside a campfire.
Rain fell softly around them.
Theo stared into the flames.
"Do you think he hates us?"
The question lingered.
Reina remained silent.
Then finally shook her head.
"No."
"Then why hasn't he come back?"
Her eyes lowered.
"...Because he's hurt."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Far beyond the known world...
Far beyond civilization...
Far beyond kingdoms...
A spear flew through the air.
*CRACK!*
A Wild Hunt monster collapsed instantly.
Its body shattered into particles.
Another emerged.
Then another.
Then ten more.
Then fifty.
Then hundreds.
The wasteland trembled.
The monsters roared.
Most people would've run.
The lone warrior standing before them smiled.
Then laughed.
A loud.
Genuine.
Excited laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The monsters charged.
The warrior spun his spear.
Three monsters died instantly.
Blood splashed across his face.
He wiped it away.
Still smiling.
"Is that all you've got?!"
More monsters emerged.
The smile widened.
"Oh ho ho..."
The spear pointed toward the horde.
"Bring it on!"
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
He rushed forward.
Straight into hundreds of monsters.
The battlefield became chaos.
Screams.
Roars.
Explosions.
Blood.
The spear flashed endlessly.
One monster died.
Then another.
Then another.
And another.
The warrior laughed the entire time.
Not because he was insane.
Not because he was cruel.
Because he was free.
For the first time in years...
Nobody needed him.
Nobody depended on him.
Nobody expected him to save them.
The only thing in front of him was a battle.
And he loved it.
A gigantic Wild Hunt emerged.
Easily three times larger than the others.
Its roar shook the sky.
The warrior looked up.
Then started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The giant monster charged.
The warrior pointed his spear.
"FINALLY!"
He cracked his neck.
"I was starting to think this place had gotten boring!"
The monster swung.
The warrior rushed forward.
Not away.
Forward.
The impact shattered the ground.
Dust filled the air.
The warrior burst through it laughing.
"COME ON!"
The spear pierced the monster's shoulder.
The creature screamed.
The warrior laughed louder.
"THAT'S IT!"
"FIGHT BACK!"
The monster managed to slash his arm.
Blood spilled.
The warrior looked at the wound.
Then grinned.
"Oh?"
He touched the blood.
Then laughed.
"Now that's more like it!"
The surrounding monsters hesitated.
The warrior spread his arms.
"What?"
His smile widened.
"Scared?"
The spear spun in his hand.
"I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED HAVING FUN YET!"
Thousands of Wild Hunt creatures eventually surrounded him.
An endless sea of monsters.
No escape.
No allies.
No hope.
The warrior looked around.
Then smiled.
A smile nobody in the kingdom would've recognized.
A smile completely different from the exhausted king they once knew.
"Oh?"
He rested the spear on his shoulder.
"There's more of you?"
The smile widened.
Then came the laughter.
Wild.
Fearless.
Alive.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"GOOD!"
The spear lowered.
Pointing directly at the horde.
"COME ON THEN!"
"LET'S SEE WHO DIES FIRST!"
And he charged.
Meanwhile...
Across the server...
Theo searched.
Reina searched.
Saparata struggled.
ClownPierce waited.
The kingdom regretted.
Everyone wanted the same thing.
To find Parrot.
To bring him home.
But nobody understood the truth.
The man they remembered was gone.
The king who carried everyone's burdens.
The hero who always put others first.
The ruler who sacrificed everything.
That person had disappeared years ago.
And somewhere beyond the edge of the world...
A lone warrior laughed as he threw himself into another impossible battle.
Because after everything he had given...
After everything he had lost...
After everyone he carried...
He had finally chosen himself.
And for the first time in his life...
He was happy.
"For once..."
"Let me be selfish."